Tears and Punches
by Just Canceled
Summary: LWD When Sam breaks Casey's heart Derek is there to break Sam's face. Rated for language and violence.


**Title**: Tears and Punches

**Series**: Life With Derek

**Summary**: (LWD) When Sam breaks Casey's heart; Derek is there to break Sam's face. Rated for language and violence

**Chapters**: Long One-shot

**Rating**: M

**A/N**: Sam & Derek...ok, everyone, may be just a tiny bit OOC here, but please read and review anyways. I answer all reviews. Oh, and please tell me if I get anything wrong, and I'll do my best to fix everything. Oh, and in my story Casey is 17 and Derek is 18 (since I don't know they're actual birthdays or ages, it's the best I can do). Oh, and if its not "Canadian-y" enough, sorry, but the one time I went to Canada it was Quebec and they gave me an Egg McMuffin instead of a sausage biscuit and I'm still kind of pissed. (BTW: I was 4 when I went, so yeah, I hold grudges). Oh, and about the title, there are a lot of both, so, it made sense. I did have entitled "brackish" but that really didn't fit it, so I changed it.

The day was bright and cheery and an overall perfect August day to start Casey's perfect junior year. Well, almost perfect junior year, since Derek was going to be there too, but it wasn't that bad. He had grown up over the past two years, even though he was still mostly obnoxious. But Casey wasn't really thinking about Derek, she was thinking about Sam, Derek's best friend and her boyfriend for the past two years. She couldn't wait to see him.

Sam had gone on a month long summer vacation to see his grandmother in another part of the province. They had spoken almost everyday, but she had still missed him terribly. He had only gotten back yesterday, so she hadn't a chance to see him. Casey quickly got up and started getting ready.

Derek on the other hand was still lying in his bed, not asleep, but thinking. He was still lying there when Casey came in, blushing at the site of him in only his boxers.

"Please Derek, can't you cover up." Casey blushed as he pulled the sheet over his lower body.

"What do you want Case?" Derek asked, casually as Casey uncovered her eyes.

"Derek, if you don't get up soon you are going to be late for school." he stared blankly at her. "And Derek, it is a bad thing to be late for your first day of junior year. Think about all the heartbroken girls who would miss you."

"All right Case, I'm getting up, but if you don't want to see me in my boxers you should leave." Casey turned and left, shutting his door behind her.

Casey finished getting ready for school and ate breakfast as she waited for Derek to come downstairs to give her a ride to school. She had her license too, but Derek had the car. So she waited. Finally Derek came down the stairs, keys in hand, with a definite; 'let's go' look on his face.

They arrived at school and Casey ran over to Sam and hugged him. He hugged her back, but, Derek noticed, not as forcefully or with as much feeling as Casey had hugged him. Derek was wondering what was going on, but thought better of asking.

School came and went, surprisingly quickly, for Derek, but he was still wondering what was up with Sam. All day Sam had been acting weird, not trying to talk to Casey at every opportunity, not really paying attention to her, and most of all, after that hug this morning, no more contact. Something was definitely up, and Derek was slightly afraid to find out what.

Over the past two years him and Sam had drifted away, they were still best friends, or so they said, but they didn't talk or hang out nearly as much as they used to. However, as Sam and Derek had been drifting apart, Casey and Derek had started getting along better. Derek was reluctant to admit that knowing Casey had changed him for the better.

He was still messy, still devious, and still sarcastic, yet now he wasn't a womanizer or that much of a slacker. He still had dates…once in a while. Probably a lot less then most people knew since he used it as an excuse to get out of housework or dumb ass movie nights with friends. He liked being alone now, and it confused him. He should be in the full sex, drugs, and rock and roll phase, but it just wasn't in him any more. He still liked loud music. He still liked girls (and don't you ever say different). He still liked hanging out with friends. Just, it was different somehow, and he couldn't really name why.

Actually, he could. Casey. Casey is the reason he had changed. He hadn't paid that much attention to the silly crush he had on her, but that's the basic explanation for all his transformations. He had started doing his school work so she wouldn't think he was stupid. Did she notice? Nope. She was too wrapped up in Sam. He started to date less, trying to keep a relationship for longer then a week. Did she notice? Nope, still wrapped up in Sam. He even tried keeping his room neat. Of course Miss Perfectionist didn't notice. All her attention was on Sam.

Sam, his once close friend had changed too. Since Derek had stopped hanging out as much, Sam had taken over the top of the popularity scale. Sam had become more of a big shot then Derek ever was. And at least Derek wasn't two-faced. When Sam was with Casey he acted one way, but then around his friends he acted another. Derek began to see a lot of his old self in Sam, and hated seeing his own words thrown in his face.

Casey rushed up to her room after having Sam drive her home from school. She was confused at the way Sam had been acting all day. She wondered if Derek knew anything, they were best friends after all. She decided to talk to Derek after homework and dinner. No, she changed her mind. This was too important to let wait. She ran to Derek's room and barged in.

"Derek, I was…." her voice trailed off as she saw him, pants half on with no shirt. She turned around so she wouldn't have to stare at his nearly naked body. "Sorry, didn't know you were changing, should've knocked. Sorry." She squeaked out.

"It's all right Case. No harm done, not like you saw me naked." She blushed and muttered 'close enough', but he didn't hear. "So, what did you come busting in here to tell me?" he asked as she turned around.

"I was wondering if you knew what was up with Sam today. He didn't seem himself."

"You're just now noticing? Sam has changed a lot, Case. I have too, but you haven't noticed. Not that it matters. I really don't know what's up with Sam, Case. Me and him…we don't talk that much anymore. Hell, he could be an alien for all I know." Casey looked at the floor then back at Derek.

"So…you don't know if he's cheating on me? Or wanting to break up…or take the relationship, you know, 'farther'." Derek looked shocked at her last words.

"You mean...never mind. I don't think I want to know. I don't know if he's cheating on you Case, but so help me god, if he hurts you, I'll kill him, ok? You know…I meant what I said. I've changed Case, so you know that I'm here for you. Always."

"Thanks Derek…but maybe something just happened at his Grandmother's." Derek's head snapped up.

"What do you mean, 'at his grandmother's'?" Derek asked, hoping that he wouldn't have to tell her the truth.

"Sam's been at his grandmother's for the past month. Hasn't he?" Casey asked with a tear in her voice. It touched Derek; he couldn't stand to see her hurt.

"I don't think so Case. He told all of us at school that he was going to the beach for the summer. But maybe his plans changed…who knows?" Derek stated, angrily as Casey's unshed tears silently rolled down her cheeks.

"Oh god Case. Don't cry. Please don't cry…" Derek said as he pulled Casey to him and wiped away her tears before pulling her into a hug. "Case, Casey…maybe it's not what you think. You should talk to him. Maybe he was just feeling bad today and maybe his summer plans changed. Talk to him Case. I promise everything will be ok." Casey nodded into his chest and he released her.

"You really are special Derek, I guess you have changed." She offered a weak smile. "Guess I'm oblivious, huh?" She said as she left.

Derek lay back on his bed, sighing as he did so. It had felt so…right, to hold her. He envied the hell out of Sam, and he would keep his promise. If Sam hurt her, Sam would pay…in a very violent and physical way. Derek drifted off to sleep thinking up ways to hurt his former best friend.

Derek was awoken a couple of hours later to the call of 'dinner' floating up the stairs. He quickly sat up and rubbed his eyes as he made his way groggily downstairs. He was starving, and wondered what tonight's dish was going to be. As he came into the dining room he noticed Casey was missing.

"Hey, where's Case?" He asked, hoping he didn't come across as worried.

"Oh, she and Sam went out for a while. They're just going for pizza, so she should be back soon." No one noticed the stricken look on Derek's face.

"Oh, ok." was all he could respond before slumping into a chair.

Casey came home around thirty minutes later, slamming the front door behind her and rushing up the stairs to her room, where she once again slammed the door. Derek was the first one to her door, knocking steadily.

"Come on Case, its me. Let me in." he said in a soft voice, surprising everyone that had gathered around. He turned to face them. "Let me handle this. If I need you, I'll come get you."

Everyone just nodded silently, at this new Derek in front of them, and walked away. Derek knocked again on the door.

"Come on Case. Open up. Everyone else is gone. I swear it. Now open up…" His words trailed off as he heard her door unlock. She threw open the door and dragged him inside, before shutting the door again and locking it back. She then threw her self in his arms, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her head in his chest. Derek just held her back, knowing she would talk when she was ready.

She started talking slowly, "He…he…" she sobbed against his chest. "He didn't go to his grandmother's after all. He spent a month; at the beach…with a girl he met a couple of month's ago. He has been cheating on me for almost a year, Derek. A year. I really am stupid, aren't I? He said some things too…" Derek pulled her over to her bed, where he leaned back against her pillows with her curled up against his chest.

"What did he say, Case." he said in a gentle voice, that was oddly tense. He hugged her to him tighter.

"He said, that he had…he had…fucked her…" her voice was strained with the unused word. "…because he knew I wouldn't do anything. That I never even let him past second base, whatever that means. He said he had liked me for a while, but I was uptight, too 'proper' for his tastes." She grabbed onto his shirt, burying her face once again in his chest. "It hurts Derek. I never thought anything could hurt this bad." He stroked her back, and tried his best to soothe her.

"It'll be alright, sweetheart. He doesn't deserve your tears." he just held her until she cried her self to sleep. He stood up as gently as he could, and laid her back down on the bed and pulled a blanket over her.

"He doesn't deserve you or your tears Case. He deserves my fist in his face." He said to her sleeping form as he gently shut the door.

He walked downstairs and went to tell his dad he was going out.

"Where you going Derek? What's wrong with Casey?" George asked.

"I'm going out. Casey will be fine; she'll tell everyone in good time. It is her business, you know." And with that he stomped out the door, his anger building as he went.

George went into the living room to find Nora, Lizzie, Edwin, and lastly Marti, watching Sponge Bob on television.

"I think we might have a problem." he said quietly as they turned to face them, "Derek just left, and he was angry. Does anyone have any idea what is going on around here?"

Marti quickly spoke up. "Derek's mad because Casey's upset! He talks to me about her a lot. I think he likes her." She said as the whole family said '_What_?' at the same time.

"What do you mean Derek likes Casey?" Nora asked as Lizzie started talking.

"He does stare at her an awful lot and they don't fight as much as they did."

"Yeah," Edwin said, "And Derek and Sam haven't hung out in a long time. Derek just kind stays in his room when Sam's here to see Casey."

"Oh god, this is about Sam isn't it then?" Nora asked, "Casey went on a date with Sam and came home crying, and now Derek's gone to…"

"Damnit!" George swore quietly, "Derek's going to do something stupid that likely involves beating up Sam. Good thing I'm a lawyer, huh? I should be gathering the bail money as we speak."

"But," Nora spoke again, "What are we going to do about Derek liking Casey? I wonder if Casey knows? She can be oblivious sometimes."

"Were not going to do anything, Nora. If Derek likes Casey, we can't exactly keep them separated. They never really felt like brother and sister, being teenagers when they became family. We just have to lay down some rules and whatever we do never leave them alone together for extended periods of time. Derek is a teenage boy, and has…well you know."

"Things are going to be weird around here for a while, aren't they?" asked Edwin.

"No weirder then usual" Lizzie said.

Meanwhile, Derek had started looking for Sam. He went to his house, but no one was home. He was on his way to the mall when it struck him. '_The skate park!_'. Derek quickly turned the car around and headed in the direction of Sam's favorite skate park. He immediately parked and went to see Sam. He found Sam lounging against the concrete base of a large lamp post and went over to him.

"You bastard…" Derek said, voice dripping with venom, as he grabbed his former best friend by the shirt.

"Derek, what's up man?" Sam asked, visibly shaking with fear.

"You are such a fucking idiot! You know what you did to her?"

"So this is about Casey…Come on, you know you would do the same thing…I mean Casey's pretty and all, but she wouldn't put out." Derek let go of Sam's shirt and wrapped his hand around Sam's throat.

"No, I wouldn't treat her like that, you worthless piece of shit. She's better than you'll ever be and you didn't like that. You treated her like she was worthless but it's the other way around."

"Why do you care so much Derek? Got the hots for your sister?" Derek punched him.

"One. She's not my sister. Two. It's none of your business. Three." Derek punched Sam again. "That's all I have to say, asshole." Derek released Sam and turned around.

Sam quickly stood up from where he had fallen on the ground and went after Derek. He grabbed Derek and spun him around to face him as he punched him in the stomach. Derek quickly caught his breath and hit Sam, knocking Sam to the ground. He hit Sam again but Sam quickly rolled over and punched Derek. Derek struggled and finally got Sam pinned and began punching him. By the fifth time Derek punched Sam he felt himself being torn away from Sam.

"I want to kill the bastard." He screamed.

George opened the door to find two police officers and a dirty and bleeding Derek.

"Is this the Venturi household?" asked the larger of the two police officers. George nodded. "Well, this one," he said, gesturing with his thumb towards Derek, "got into a little fight. There not going to be any charges posted, since it seems the other guy had started it. I'd say he'd got lucky, but we returned him home. He's your business now." Derek walked into the house behind George.

"Go sit in the living room. We're going to have a little family meeting once Casey comes down." Derek just nodded numbly. "By the way, Derek, who won?"

"I did."

Casey walked downstairs and into the living room. She glanced around at the entire family until her gaze fell on Derek.

"DEREK! What happened?"

"That is what we are here about Casey." Nora said. "This is a family meeting."

"Casey, please sit down. We all need to talk." Casey glanced around the room, her eyes locking with Derek's for a brief moment.

"Ok," began George, "We've noticed a lot of things recently. First we want to hear from Casey, about why Derek beat up Sam." Casey's eyes flew to Derek, but she said nothing. "Then we want to hear from Derek why he beat up Sam. And then we will tell you the new rules. Is that ok with everyone?" Casey and Derek nodded. "Ok Casey, let's hear your side of the story."

"Do I have to?" Derek reached out and took Casey's hand. "Ok. Sam was acting weird at school today. I haven't seen him in a month, you know, and he acted like he didn't care. Derek noticed it too. So I went to talk to Derek, to see if he knew why Sam had been acting weird…" a few minutes later she came to the earlier date. "And after we finished eating, I asked him why he seemed so distant…he just shrugged. Then I asked if he had really been at his grandmother's. He said that he had been. Then I told him what Derek had told me, and Sam finally came clean." She sobbed, "He told me he had been cheating on me for almost a year. That he had gone to the beach with his other girlfriend. That he liked me, but…I wouldn't…I was too 'slow' for him. So he had to turn elsewhere. Then I broke-up with him, and all he did was laugh." Casey was quickly pulled into a hug by Derek, who for the third time that day wiped away her tears.

"He's not worth your tears, Case. He's worthless, not you." He shushed her. She laid her head on his chest, hiccupping from the tears.

"Would you like to tell us why you beat him up, Derek?" asked George.

"Sure. He was a complete ass to Casey. She didn't deserve how he treated her. No one does. He needed to learn his lesson. That and he just completely pissed me off. He hurt her, so he had to pay. End of story." Derek's words were poison laced, hard and angry.

"But why do you care so much, Derek? I thought you hated me." Casey said.

"I never hated you, Case. Never. Sure, we didn't get along at first…but I never disliked you. And when you and Sam started liking each other, I was against it, but I knew it would make you happy, so I finally gave up." Casey just stared at him. Marti walked over to Casey and tapped her on the shoulder, and whispered something in her ear. Casey's head snapped up.

"I'm really oblivious, aren't I? Does everyone else know?" Everyone nodded. "Does Derek know that you guys know?" Everyone shook their head. "Well, don't you think you should tell him?" They looked at each other, then nodded.

George spoke first, "Derek, we know." Derek looked up, puzzled. "We know you like Casey, in a more than brotherly way."

"What?" Derek said. "I never said anything like that." Worry creasing his brow.

"You didn't have to. You're not the Derek we used to know. You've really matured. You're a man now, and son, men deal with their emotions. Not always in the best of ways, as the holes in your wall can attest, but you do have to deal with them. Now, we're going to leave you and Casey alone for a few minutes…" George turned to Nora, "Is that a good idea, leaving them alone?" Nora nodded and whispered.

"They won't do anything, I'm sure Lizzie and Edwin will be spying on them, anyway."

"Ok, we're going to leave you alone. Tell her or not Derek, it's your choice. But you'll never know how she feels until you do."

The family all left, even though, as Nora had predicted, Lizzie and Edwin stood guard outside the door, eavesdropping.

"So…" Casey started, "What are they talking about? I'm pretty sure I know…but, I…oh, just tell me already!"

"They're wrong Case. I don't like you." Derek began.

"What?" asked Casey, on the verge of tears again.

"I said, they're wrong. I don't like you. I'm head over heels in love with you. I always have been. I love you, Casey. No matter what you feel about m…" His words got cut off as Casey threw herself into his arms and kissed him for all she was worth.

"I love you, too, Derek. Since I first met you, I thought you were, well, hot, but annoying. But the way you are with Marti, and the way you acted sometimes, I got to know the real you. The you that you now show to the world." He smiled, and tired to kiss her again, but she stopped him. "Derek, your lip is bleeding." He swore silently. "Come on, let's go get you cleaned up."

They walked into the kitchen, carefully avoiding the eavesdropping Lizzie and Edwin. She sat him down at the kitchen counter and began to carefully clean up his wounds. His eye brow had a gash, and blood had trickled down his face. His cheek was slightly swollen, and his lip was split. Other then that and a few minor bruises on his ribs and stomach, he was fine.

"How bad did Sam get it." Casey asked.

"I don't know, really. The cops ripped me off of him before I could really hurt him, I think. But I'm pretty sure he's in worse shape then me. I know he's got a black eye and his nose is broken. I might have left fingerprint bruises on his neck too. I really don't know, other than that. We'll find out tomorrow, at school."

Nora and George walked into the kitchen, and looked at Derek and Casey.

"So, Derek. Did you tell her?" Derek nodded. "Ok, and Casey…what did you say?"

"I told him the truth. That I love him, just as much as he loves me. And not just because of the whole Sam thing, but from the very beginning."

"Really?" asked George, but was quickly silenced by Nora's elbow. "Ok, so Nora and I have talked, and we have come up with some basic rules. We're really in shock over this, but we aren't going to try to keep you apart. You're not blood related, and it is kind of, well, weird, to date your step sibling, but we decided that trying to keep you guys apart would be like you guys trying to keep us apart, so we're not going to do that. We are however laying down ground rules."

"Rule one," Nora said, "No sex. At all. Ever." Casey and Derek both blushed. "Rule two, no over displays of affection around us. It's just weird. Three, if you guys break up, and we're not saying you will, make it as civil as possible. And lastly, you know you guys will never be left alone, together, for any amount of time, right?" Casey nodded and Derek laughed, uneasily.

Nora and George left, leaving Derek and Casey to themselves.

"What do we do now? It's not like everyday someone falls for their step-brother. What are people going to think?" Casey asked.

"Who says we tell them. If they ask why I beat up Sam, I'll tell them it was over some other girl. We'll just keep to ourselves. If Dad and Nora are ok with it, what else matters?" He drew her towards him, wrapping his arms around her legs and burying his face in her stomach. He pulled back slightly and looked up at her. "I love you, Case. That's all that matters."

A/N: I might write a sequel, but I doubt it. If you like it please let me know. This took me a while to write, and I am, oddly enough, proud of it. If it sucks, it sucks, but this is the longest thing I've written in a long time. Please, (and yes I'm begging) review or message me. I need criticism if my writing is going to get any better. So, thank you for reading this! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!


End file.
